Holistic Health and African Traditional Medicine Approach (an overview)
Holistic Health and
African Traditional Medicine Approach
(an overview)
Treating ourselves or relatives when
afflicted with an ailment is a necessity, it is thus wise to seek information on
the choices of health care available, to understand their pros and cons, and
thus make an informed choice in seeking health and good health care.
History has shown African traditional medicine is the oldest and
perhaps the most assorted and richest of all therapeutic systems.
Africa is seen to be the cradle of mankind, abundant with a rich
biological and cultural diversity marked by regional differences in healing
practices, from religious and faith based to the yet unexplainable but
workable.
African traditional medicine in its varied forms is holistic,
involving the body, the mind, spirituality and the environment.
The traditional healer typically diagnoses and treats the
psychological basis of an illness before prescribing medicines, be them
spiritual or physical, tropical or oral, to not only treat the symptoms but the
cause inclusive, with a view to restoring the patient to good health and
healing.
Traditional medicine practitioners in a holistic manner focus on
taking the whole person into account when they carry out their health services.
This is centered in the
belief and knowledge that optimal wellness is created when the unique needs of
each and every person are looked at in depth.
Here we find a holistic
health approach that digs deep to find the root causes of health problems you
might be having, while having a clear understanding of how interwoven and
inseparable the various elements of health are (e.g. physical, mental,
spiritual).
While Treating
patients, traditional healers
holistically offer information, counselling, treatment to patients and their
families in a personal manner while having at the fore an understanding of
their patient’s environment, cultural and religious needs.
It is important to note
that in African Traditional medicine as in Islamic and other traditional
medicines, sickness is not limited to the physical body, but is seen as
anything that affects the balance of harmony in the mind, body, soul and
emotions.
Traditional medicine is the sum total of knowledge, skills, and
practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to
different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent,
diagnose, improve, or treat physical and mental illnesses [WHO].
Traditional medicine that has been adopted by other populations
(outside its indigenous culture) is often termed complementary or alternative
medicine (CAM) [WHO]
A holistic health
practitioner will usually offer or recommend alternative/complementary health
therapies where and when necessary.
These might include
things like acupuncture, herbalism, prayer or naturopathy to name a few,
depending on the healer’s inclination.
Holistic health
practitioner will respect when there is a need for conventional medicine too
and they will support an integrative approach.
All holistic health practitioners
will have a slightly different approach. However, the ‘holistic way
to health’, has a number of paths which must all be free flowing to have good
health or to be said to be healthy.
These include prayer (religious rituals and to dos), exercise, nutrition, stress control, sleep, thoughts and relationships, to mention a few. When one lane is blocked it will eventually have a significant effect on all the other lanes.
For example, if you
haven’t eaten all day your body will be crying out for a “feel better quick”
fix, your body will signal with headaches, pinching in the tummy, with loss of
a concentration and won’t be able to handle normal work routine.
Perhaps you weren’t
able to eat because there was a blockage in the paths of your finances or
relationship or stress, in your holistic health cumulative.
Whatever your
situation, once the main culprit is found, the whole path way will flow a lot
more easily and good health restored.
The holistic health
approach is firmly based on the foundation principles of traditional medicines,
Islamic (Unani), Ayurveda, TCM or African Traditional.
All of these medical
and health practices far precede the allopathic (western) medicine.
These traditional
health providers see medicine as any thing that solves mans problems and see
sickness or disease as anything that affects the body, mind, soul and emotional
balance. Their knowledge predates writing and has been handed down over the
years orally and now both orally and well written.
Their holistic approach
to health care and their use of nature’s inputs is seen to be that which gives
them the power to cure and not manage disease or symptoms.
The world today is
turning to herbal and holistic health, this so evident in the need seen by the
WHO to set up the Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023, based on the World
Health Assembly resolution on traditional medicine (WHA62.13)
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 80% of the
emerging world’s population relies on traditional medicine for therapy. During
the past decades, the developed world has also witnessed an ascending trend in
the utilization of CAM, particularly herbal remedies.
Herbal medicines include herbs, herbal materials, herbal
preparations, and finished herbal products that contain parts of plants or
other plant materials as active ingredients.
We find that in the African continent the most common traditional
medicine in common practice to all the various religious and traditional
healers across board is the use of medicinal plants, primarily because
medicinal plants are the most easily accessible health resource available to
the community, this is often laced with practices linked to belief and others
ancestral.
They too have Specialization in their various fields like the
traditional bone setter (a highly priced and sort after personal), mental
health, exorcists, those into Hijama (cupping) and so on.
The traditional medicine understanding of the human body is completely
different from that of the allopathic medicine, the concept of hot or cold temperament,
dry and damp temperaments of the core organs come to play and tell the whole
story, where there is an imbalance sickness comes, and is treated with items
and methods that compliment the temperament of the ailment and parts of the body
affected.
In other climes we have the ying-yang balance, the acid alkaline
balance, chi and qi, all generally saying the same thing about the body.
The holistic health care givers have their ways of bringing peace,
harmony and good health within their societies, some of their methods “modern
science” is just beginning to understand.
Ongoing research has shown how many ailments once thought by
allopathic medicine to have no cure, have been treated successfully by use of
herbal medicines. With claim of successful cures to Cancer, HIV, Malaria,
Typhoid and a host of other ailments.
In some climes a marriage between traditional medicine and
allopathic medicine is giving birth to Naturopathic Medicine seeking the best
of both worlds.
@ShifahHolisticC
https://web.facebook.com/walidsmoukarim/
Reference
[1] WHO, Fact sheet N134, 2008, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/
factsheets/2003/fs134/en/
[2] A. Gurib-Fakim, “Medicinal plants: traditions of yesterday and
drugs of tomorrow,” Molecular Aspects of Medicine, vol.27, no. 1, pp. 1–93,
2006.
[3] V. Chintamunnee and M. F. Mahomoodally, “Herbal medicine
commonly used against infectious diseases in the tropical island of Mauritius,”
JournalofHerbalMedicine, vol. 2, pp. 113–125, 2012.
[4] Dr. M.I. Jawa (PhD) lectures
[6]A.Gurib-Fakim,T.Brendler,L.D.Phillips,andL.N.Eloff, Green
Gold—Success Stories Using Southern African Plant Species, AAMPS Publishing,
Mauritius, 2010.
[7] A. Gurib-Fakim and M. F. Mahomoodally, “African flora as
potential sources of medicinal plants: towards the chemotherapy of major
parasitic and other infectious diseases- a review,” Jordan Journal of
Biological Sciences, vol.6, pp.77–84, 2013.
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